Strategy

Gap plans to expand the training program it offers to its women garment workers oversees, aiming to educate at least 1 million women by 2020.

The program, called P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement), launched in 2007 and gives women garment workers access to a curriculum up to 80 hours long in up to nine areas, from communications skills, financial literacy, stress management, problem-solving and decision-making.

Teen apparel retailer Hollister will remove the steps from its store entrances following a six-year court battle.

The company, owned by Abercrombie & Fitch Co., has agreed to eliminate the steps that part of the exterior design of many of its stores in order to make the doorways wheelchair accessible, the Associated Press reported. The change is part of a settlement approved by a federal judge.

Wawa managed to beat the clock in Philadelphia, opening a flagship location just in time for the Pope’s visit.

The convenience store operator opened the 4,000-sq.-ft. store nearly two months ahead of schedule, and in time for the crowds in town to see Pope Francis.

The new Wawa features an entirely new store design, colors, graphics and other one-of-a-kind features. It was designed in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, Dayton, Ohio, and Cuhaci and Peterson, locally based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

An ongoing computer glitch has been wreaking major havoc at Walgreens. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Deerfield, Illinois-based drugstore giant was gradually restoring its automated pharmacy system this week after a massive outage on Sept. 22.

Pharmacists at all 8,200 U.S. Walgreens stores had to start manually filling prescriptions on Tuesday morning after the glitch occurred following overnight maintenance. As of the afternoon of Sept. 24, thousands of stores still lacked access to Walgreens’ central pharmacy database.

The growth aspirations of Conn’s were revealed in the span of a few days recently when, with a new CEO at the helm, it entered the Georgia market and increased its presence in Colorado.

With nearly 1,100 stores in malls nationwide, it appears that 2015 was not the summer of the sneaker for Finish Line.

The retailer reported weaker-than-expected sales for its second quarter ended Aug. 29. The results weren’t awful, with sales advancing 3.5% to $483.2 million and same-store sales up 1.5%. However, gas prices were in free fall for much of the year and the unemployment rate was in decline, which should have left Finish Line’s core customer with money in their pockets and no reason to not drive to the mall.

Dallas, Ga. -- Marcus & Millichap announced the sale of a 17,930-sq. ft. CVS Strip Center in Dallas, Georgia, for $4.2 million. The property is 70% anchored by CVS Health with a 15-year corporate-guaranteed double-net lease.

Charlotte, N.C. -- The Chambers Group, an X Team International partner and full-service real estate brokerage firm announced that Jenn Olevitch-Roberson has joined the company as partner to lead the company’s second location in Raleigh, North Carolina. The office will open Oct. 1, and, over the course of the next 12 months, The Chambers Group will add approximately six new and seasoned brokers to their team in Raleigh.

Six months after opening a Skechers concept shop, Meijer is taking the next step in what appears to be a more ambitious rollout of the branded shop to additional footwear departments.

Ross Stores Inc. is continuing an aggressive growth strategy for both its Ross Dress for Less and DD’s Discount banners. The new store openings are part of the retailer’s 2015 expansion program, totaling approximately 90 new locations during the year.

Ross Dress for Less will open four new stores on Oct. 10. These include two new stores in the Chicago area: a 25,000-sq.-ft. store in Palatine located in the Deer Grove Centre, and a 24,000-sq.-ft. Joliet store is located in Joliet Commons.